This is a wonderful verde avocado green casserole that features the 12 signs of the Zodiac encased in gold leaf circles all the way around the sides. Because of the large area in the goldleaf used (over an inch in diameter), the symbols tend to suffer a bit from production issues and just general usage. The one we found has what looks like “cracks” in the gold leaf on most of the signs.

The casserole itself is a standard #475 2 1/2 quart size… we had actually thought it was the smaller #473 size for some reason until we found it ourselves. You’ll also notice in the picture it looks like a completely clear lid. It is actually not - there is an interesting gold leaf compass rose printed on the clear glass but ours rubbed off. We actually tend to see quite a few of the lids for this casserole that have either a partial star or none at all. Ours has the faintest remnant of the gold star - oops, now we’ll have to go look for a lid to replace it!

We’ve seen several original boxes for these Zodiac casseroles that are colored green and have the number 57 (this number also appears in a dealer catalog)

The casserole came with an interesting so-called “Deluxe Candle Warmer” cradle. (On the box, it just says Candle Warmer, but on the advert we saw it does say Deluxe Candle Warmer). We would have loved to have also found the candle warmer as it is a bit different than the usual ones… it consists of a brass metal ring tray where the dish sits on with three black legs holding it up.

Update 3/2009: We ended up finding the entire casserole with the candle warmer and a lid that had the gold compass rose. You can see the picture below:

We also did manage to find a replacement lid at the thrift for our earlier Zodiac casserole, and this one did have the golden star. The candle warmer tray is one of our favorites - it has a mid century modern look to it with the three plastic legs. Here’s the tray base by itself:

The metal candle holder attaches below in a hole in the base. Interestingly, there’s a piece of metal with holes in it that folds out on a hinge - believe that is to diffuse the direct flame of the candle.

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